Tag Archives: Helen Ross

Snake Weather has stretched its full length… it was a wonderful experience working with such a diversity of voices and watching how each poet shifted the energy of the poem. It is a renga that I feel deserves repeated reads, so I have included the links to parts i, ii and iii here so that you can take it all in. There is much to enjoy!

As I post this, Snake Weather is crawling off on its final leg… so for now, please enjoy this third phase of the renga written by David Stavanger, Andy Smerdon, Cindy Keong, Graham Nunn, Chris Lynch, Trish Reid, John Wainwright, Helen Ross and Andrew Phillips.

The summer ginko group have now reached the half-way mark of their ginko. Here’s links 10-18 written by / between: David Stavanger, Andy Smerdon, Cindy Keong, Katherine Battersby, Chris Lynch, Trish Reid, John Wainwright, Helen Ross, Andrew Phillips for you to enjoy.

Our recent ginko through Karawatha Forest has spun off into a summer ginko. The group have been sparking off each other, resulting in some really exciting leaps. Here’s the first quarter of Snake Weather, written by / between: David Stavanger, Andy Smerdon, Cindy Keong, Katherine Battersby, Chris Lynch, Trish Reid, John Wainwright, Helen Ross, Andrew Phillips.

Yesterday, I had the absolute pleasure of hosting a ginko (haiku walk) through Karawatha State Forest. Ten of us gathered to revel in the beauty of the summer morning that awaited us and of course, share in the wonder of haiku. So after a pot or two of authentic Japanese green tea (thanks Andrew) and recitations of some of the groups favourite summer haiku, we all set off to walk, and importantly, find a place to be still, to become one with the surroundings.

After an hour and a half of walking, contemplating and sketching from the senses, we gathered again and shared our experience… and some fine haiku were composed as a result. I am excited to share a selection of the group’s poems, along with some photographs by Cindy Keong.

***

lizard
in a shadow
the kookaburra misses

Helen Ross

*

crossroad
i want to go both ways
again

Trish Reid

*

Cindy Keong

*

heavy sun
crow pleads
with the rusted tap

Katherine Battersby

*

cicadas suddenly silent, all the burnt gum trees

Chris Lynch

*

after the storm
one root of the grey gum
my broken toe

Andrew Phillips

*

Cindy Keong

*

flashing sunlight at my eyes butterfly

John Wainwright

*

stubbing my toe
I mimic the crow’s call

Cindy Keong

*

Cindy Keong

*

under a black wing
ants feast
the sky moves on

Andy Smerdon

*

snake weather
he kisses his teenage daughter
on the mouth

David Stavanger

***

The group will now compose a renga, leading off with David’s ‘snake weather’, which was voted the most resonant poem by the group on the day… Am looking forward to sharing that with you in the coming weeks.

On Thursday night I had the privilege of launching issue #2 of Doorways: Earth People. Doorways started out as a magazine dedicated to presenting the stories and poetry of people living in boarding houses as a means of challenging the negative, stereotypical views so regularly presented in the media. For issue #2, the net has been cast a little wider… As chief facilitator of the writing group and all round champion of the project Tamara Lazaroff says in the welcome:

Some live in supported accommodation, others in Department of Housing houses. Some live in a private rental. Some have recently been homeless. Others live in institutions. We’ve lived in a lot of places in our lives: in huts, tents, caves, under bamboo thickets, in luxury apartments, army barracks, motels, hotels, backpackers, in Australia and all over this earth. We are a mixed crew. But at the end of the day, we are just people, not the places we live in.

And Doorways is buzzing with the voices of this ‘mixed crew’. Voices that rarely (if ever) find their way into the wash of literary journals and other media. Inside these covers there is an untapped energy. A richness of story and unflinching simplicity.

I had the pleasure of working with the group and sharing my story in August so it was a great rounding out of the circle, to be able to take their stories home with me on the night. There are many fine pieces in the collection, but I will leave you with two snapshots… One haiku by Robert Wilson and the opening lines of The Junction by Helen Morris:

love
candle flames
the desert

Robert Wilson

Can I endure life’s frailty?
It’s microscopic chaos?

The stick in the guts fear of knowing what I am.

Helen Ross

To get your hands on a copy or to find out more about the project, contact: taas(at)newfarmneighbourhood.org or call (07) 3358 3951.

And you can listen to an interview with Tamara Lazaroff on 4ZZZ’s atthelocal.